Boko Haram invades Damaturu Prison, frees 40 prisoners

Police spokesperson, Mr Frank Mba, confirmed the incident

Damaturu— Suspected members of the Jam’atul Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram,on June 24, 2012, staged a daring attack on the Damaturu prison on Gashua Road, and set free 40 of their members who were being detained.

A fleeing inmate was said to have been killed while a prison warder was injured during the attack.

Police spokesperson, Mr Frank Mba, who confirmed the incident, said unknown gunmen staged a jailbreak yesterday in Damaturu and freed about 40 inmates, adding that  a prison warder was injured and that one fleeing inmate was killed in a gunfight.

In another development, spokesman of the Boko Haram sect, Abu Qaqa, has said the sect was not responsible for bomb that was found in a mosque in Kano, on Friday.

Qaqa in a statement, yesterday, said: “In respect of what we heard in the media yesterday (Friday) that some people attempted to detonate a bomb in a Juma’at mosque in Kano, this movement Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad hereby dissociates itself from this act.

“We are fully aware of this kind of conspiracy by the SSS, following a similar pattern of their counterparts in other countries to tarnish the image and reputation of Islamic fighters, they will not succeed, God’s willing.

“Everyone knows that we are waging Jihad to restore the supremacy of Islam, which is why we are labelled ‘Muslim fundamentalists’,  how on earth can we then attempt to destroy a Muslim place of worship. This is, therefore, a conspiracy by those that are averse to the enthronement of an Islamic state, and they will not succeed by God’s grace.”